Alone
by YourLocalIgor
Summary: Princess Leilani of the OZ just wants the man she loves, Wyatt Cain wants what he can't have and the Queens council think the Princesses should marry... Why does life have to be so complicated? On the go slow, appologies! CainXOC
1. Morning Trips

**Hi, this is my first Tin Man fanfic (first **_**anything**_** fic actually) so I apologise if it is rubbish, I haven't got a beta either so I'm sorry if there are any typos feel free to tell me if there are. I don't own Tin Man or anything you recognise, I just own Lei and I hope you like her! So without further ado here it is…**

Wyatt Cain sat bolt upright in his bed and for a second he had no idea where he was, the nightmare had been so vivid that it had robbed him temporarily of his bearings. Looking around the dark room he recognised the fittings of his chamber in the palace at Finaqua, he was sitting alone in the middle of his bed. Not that that was unusual, he was always on his own when he woke. Since the death of his wife, Adora, he had felt alone, even after DG and Glitch had come and released him from the tin suit that had been his prison. He still wasn't the friendliest of people but two years after becoming an honorary part of the royal family and being hugged to death by the two younger princesses every morning he had regained some of the softness he had lost.

Slowly Cain climbed out of his bed and stretched, despite the fact that it was so early in the morning it should legally be classed as late Cain knew that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, the monstrous nightmare was still buzzing around in his mind and he had to go and make sure that it had in fact just been a dream. Cain hurried along the length of corridor that separated his room from the royal apartments and opened the doors that lead to the chambers of the three princesses.

The doors opened to reveal a large round room resembling a boarding school common room, albeit a very expensively furnished one. A fire was sputtering feebly in the grate and causing the squashy furniture and musical instruments to cast flickering shadows on the walls and floor. Cain crept over to the double doors that were directly opposite the ones he had just entered through and quietly pushed them open.

The room beyond was... well... Leilani's room was the chamber of a woman who had been ripped from her noble home at the tender age of eight and thrust into the world of resistance fighters, risen rapidly through their ranks and at the age of twenty two become the leader of a rebel army. Then after defeating the oppressor, who had in this particular scenario taken the form of an evil witch inhabiting her sister, been chucked back into the life of a princess... Suffice it to say that Princess Leilani's room was a mess. And off to the right, against the wall was a massive bed, in the middle of whose tangled sheets lay the objective of Cain's late night mission.

Leilani was fast asleep with her pitch black hair splayed across the white pillow and a beam of moon light lancing between gaps in the curtains making her skin glow a pearlescent ivory colour. Cain silently closed the door behind him and approached the bed. It had been just over a year and a half since he had helped the princesses (DG, Azkadellia and Leilani) defeat the witch but that didn't mean that the dreams of her death had stopped haunting him. They had all been in danger and dreams of the others dying had stopped months ago but for some reason, unknown to the guard, the possibility of this particular princess dying had a much larger effect on him.

Cain still didn't know why it bothered him so much that the princess could have died. He cared about her, sure he would have been upset if she had died and it would have made the whole defeating the witch thing so much harder but he had barely known the kid back then. Fine he knew her better now; he was her guard a lot of the time, alright all the time… And that was another thing Cain didn't understand, why was it so hard for him to be away from her for longer than absolutely necessary? He just couldn't comprehend why she did this to him, whatever this was.

Cain was jerked from his thoughts as the princess gave a small whimper. He looked back down and saw a small frown etch its self onto Leilani's brow. He reached down and took her hand in his as he sat on the edge of the bed, she turned her head towards him and for a second Cain feared that he had woken her, but Lei's eyes remained shut as she sighed and curled up, taking a tighter grip on the old Tin Man's hand.

When Lei woke the next morning it was to find that there was something resting on her stomach. She slowly shifted so that she could see whatever it was that was pressing gently on her abdomen; she was not entirely surprised when her gaze fell on the figure of Wyatt Cain. She quite often woke to find that the Tin Man was sitting in the armchair she had had brought up to sit by her bedroom door facing where she slept. What did shock her was that Cain was lying on her bed- at a right angle to her body- and that she was clutching his hand in one of hers. Carefully she slipped her body out from under his head and replaced it with a pillow before creeping to her en suit bathroom to take a shower and see to some urgent needs of the morning.

Once showered and dressed Lei would usually go out into the communal lounge that she shared with her sisters but this morning she had woken early and when she had stuck her head round the doors of their rooms she had found Az serenely lying on her mattress slumbering peacefully and DG dead to the world on top of the rumpled but still made bed sheets. Not being one to sit idly by Lei began to tidy her bed room. This proved to be a time well spent as she found several things that she would not wish for anyone entering her room (let alone Cain) to see.

By the time Leilani had finished the second sun had risen in the sky and the clock was telling her that breakfast was due to be served at any moment. It was then that Cain decided to wake from his slumber by slipping off the bed. Lei spun around as she heard the thump and burst into a peal of laughter as she saw Cain's head appear blearily from the other side of her double bed.

Cain heard the laughter as he sat up from where he had fallen on the floor and sort around the room for the source of the noise. It was coming from the young woman standing in the mid-morning sun on the other side of the bed; quickly she walked around the obstacle and offered Cain a hand which he took, allowing her to help him to his feet. The worst part was that Cain had had every intention of going back to bed earlier and not letting her know that he had been there, but as with every late night visit he made to check on her she looked so peaceful that he would stay a little too long to be able to leave again and then slowly her steady breathing would lull him to sleep as well.

And now she was standing beside him as his head came back into the realm of the living he realised that they were standing a little closer than Cain was comfortable with and, as was his habit, he took half a step back and nearly broke his neck tripping on over the blanket that Lei had put over him. As he fell Cain's reflexes got the better of him and he grabbed the nearest thing in an attempt to keep from toppling over. Unfortunately for him the nearest thing happened to be Lei resulting in the two of them landing in a heap on the floor with the princess all but straddling her unofficial bodyguard. Cain lay on the floor completely winded with the princess on top of him, he was worried to find that the princess appeared to be quivering in, what he assumed to be, fear,

"Are you alright Princess?" he gasped after a moment. He was shocked when said princess' mouth opened and expelled yet more laughter. Lei rolled off of the winded and now very confused Tin Man and lay on her back beside him. She couldn't speak; the laughter that was shaking her body made it near impossible for her to breath let alone create a coherent sentence.

"Princess?" Cain asked, more than a little bemused,

"I'm sorry," Lei gasped, her beautiful lavender eyes sparkling, "but the look on your face just then has to be the funniest thing I have ever seen!" Cain grimaced and stood helping up the still chuckling princess. Just then the doors opened and Azkadellia and DG came running in,

"Are you alright?" DG asked looking from the Tin Man to her sister, who nodded and smiled widely,

"We're fine; Cain just went for a trip and took me with him!"

**Thanks for reading don't forget to review; the next chapter should be up next week if you liked it!**

**Love Igor xx**


	2. That Dress

**Me again! Same as last time, I don't own any of the characters that you recognise, I just own Lei. Please review if you like this, or even if you don't, feel free to tell me what you think!**

Several hours later Lei sat in the middle of her lesson with Tutor, all traces of the morning's laughter forgotten. She had her head on her hand as her mind wandered around the grounds where she could see gardeners tending the summer flowers. It was hot in the study and Lei was struggling to stop herself from falling asleep as Tutor rambled on and on about some spell that she and DG were meant to be learning. She usually loved magic lessons but today Lei just couldn't concentrate. The three princesses had been summoned to court that afternoon to discuss something with their mother and her council. Suddenly a book slammed out of the air in front of Lei's eyes,

"Princess I would appreciate it if you could keep your thoughts inside the room." Lei sighed and tried in vain to concentrate on Toto's face. Ten minutes later and their tutor had given up on teaching the girls anything; none of them seemed to be able to concentrate. DG was doodling on a scrap of parchment, Azkadellia was picking at the edge of the table and Lei was staring out of the window at the gardeners. Toto decided that they should call it a day and let the girls go on the proviso that tomorrow they would have to concentrate and catch up what they had missed.

As Lei wandered out of the room she found her thoughts straying back to Cain, images of him working flashed through her mind causing her to shake her head in an attempt to clear it. She mustn't allow herself to think of him like that. Lei wasn't trying to kid herself, she knew that she was in love with Wyatt Cain.

Lei had been in love with him for the last year, ever since he had saved her from dancing with yet another stuck up nobleman at her and DG's official (if rather late) coming out ceremony. The way it had felt to be held by him made her head spin and this morning when she had found him lying there on her bed her heart had started to pound. It always happened when he got close to her but she knew that he would never feel the same way she did. It infuriated Lei that he was always pointing out how old he was. He wasn't old, fine he was nearly twice her age but she didn't see why that should matter; age was just a number after all. But then maybe that was his way of trying to tell her that he wasn't interested in her like that, _'I'm too old for you Princess.' _That was what he had said last time.

It had been about a week ago, they had been in the princess's lounge. Lei had been sitting on the floor leaning against Cain's legs as he sat on the sofa opposite the fire. DG and Glitch had been sharing the other sofa, Azkadellia was in the shower and Raw had gone to bed. Lei remembered the casual way DG had brought up the topic of marriage saying that she was surprised that their parents hadn't set them all up in arranged partnerships. The chat had continued in that vain for a while before Lei had mentioned that if their parents ever tried to get her to agree to an arranged marriage she would either jump off the highest tower or insist upon marrying Cain. She had only been half joking and the reply Cain gave made her want to curl up and die in a corner.

"Don't be silly Princess," he had said, "I'm too old for you." Only DG had noticed the small hurt look on Lei's face. Later she and Azkadellia had crept in to check on their sister and found Lei curled in a ball silently crying into her pillow. They had spent the rest of the night in Lei's bed the three of them curled up like dormice, a comforting little island of strength in Lie's own personal sea of disappointment and sadness.

Lei shook herself back into the real world before the tears could overwhelm her; she stood up straight as she heard footsteps approaching down the passage. Lei began to walk down the corridor as the footsteps came closer, she didn't have anywhere to go but had no intention of being swept up by any members of the council who might decide to find somewhere for her to be. As the footsteps rounded the corner Lei heard a voice calling to her,

"Princess!" The voice was familiar, deep and husky but still friendly. Lei turned and watched as Cain jogged the last few feet towards her, "You weren't trying to get away from me were you kid?" he asked lightly.

"No," she looked up at him coyly from under her lashes, it was at times like these that Cain felt like a teenage boy all over again, his heart began to race and he wanted to pull the young woman into his arms and kiss her senseless. He was jerked back to reality when Lei continued, "I thought you were one of Mother's council and I really don't like talking to them. They always manage to find some depressingly dull job for me or they give me a lecture about my clothes and how I should be a better role model." Lei gave Cain a look that he had come to recognise over the time he had known the young woman. This particular look was the one that Azkadellia referred as look #4- annoyed with a hint of exasperation. Cain didn't like the members of the Queen's council, he thought they were arrogant gits, but he could at least see their point about Leilani's clothes.

She was wearing one of Glitch's old shirts in a pretty pale yellow and a pair of fitted blue jeans. Cain had to admit that whilst the clothes suited Lei, the jeans hugging her petit figure and the yellow of the shirt making her amethyst eyes sparkle even more than normal, they were very much like the clothes DG had described from the other-side. He knew that Lei had always worn the hand-me-downs from the men in the resistance but maybe she should be trying a little harder to fit in with court life. Cain was about to voice this opinion when Lei spoke sending every other thought out of his head.

"So what you up to for the rest of the day?" she asked him. Cain shrugged he was finding it hard to concentrate, all his thoughts were buzzing around inside his head like angry bees. How did this always happen to him, as soon as she spoke her crystalline voice would send him mind into a whirl of disjointed thoughts. "I don't suppose..." she began looking down at her feet.

"What is it Princess?" Lei glared up at him for a moment, he knew that she hated being addressed by her title but Cain had always found calling her by her name difficult and anyway she always called him by his surname and there wasn't that much difference, was there?

"Well _Mr_ Cain," she replied, stressing the title that she knew he hated and giving a half smile as he winced, "I was going to ask if you would consider accompanying me for an afternoon ride, but if your too busy..." She trailed off letting the sentence hang in the air. Cain thought for a moment, he knew that the Princesses had an appointment with the council and he himself was expected to be there and then he had more loathsome paperwork to do, that was one thing he had not missed in the tin suit.

He looked down at the young woman beside him she looked so tired; not the same person he had met two years ago in the back allies of Central City. It was hard to see if you didn't know what to look for, most of the time Lei made a good show of being happy for her parents, but those very close to her could see the difference. There was a little sigh she gave when she looked out at the gardens and then further out over the forests and lakes at Finaqua or the streets of Central City. That sigh said 'once that was my playground, the backdrop of my life. Now I can't step outside without being mobbed.'

Cain relented, he knew that the ride out in the open would do her good; anyway if he didn't go with her she would go without him and then something really bad could happen. She could fall off her horse, or run into rebel long-coats, or get mugged, or... worse... He stopped that thought and looked down at Lei again.

"Alright, but on two conditions: 1) you go to the meeting with the council first and 2) you go to said meeting wearing a proper dress." Lei raised her hands, palms upwards and tipped them as if they were a set of weighing scales and spoke in a slightly amused voice,

"Hmm, an afternoon wearing a horrible, itchy, multi-layered monstrosity of a dress followed by a ride with a slightly sadistic ex-Tin Man. Or no afternoon out and a big argument about my choice of clothes with some puffed up little council member, let me think about this." She linked her arm through his and kicked her feet slightly as she walked.

They continued in a companionable silence for a while before Lei spoke again,

"So, any preference as to which dress I wear?" she had meant it as a joke and was surprised when she got a serious answer.

"That blue one with the, oh you know the... swishy bits." Cain frowned off into the middle distance.

"The blue one with the swishy bits that's really descriptive Cain, really I think you should seriously consider a career as a novelist." Cain gave her a look that would have sent a normal person running for the hills, but Lei just laughed. "Well I'll see you later, I've got to go and find that blue, swishy dress!" She pecked him on the cheek and ran off.

Cain was left staring after her like an adolescent boy. No-one had ever made him feel like that, not since Adora, she had been the only person who had been able to leave him absolutely speechless. Cain removed his hat and ran a hand through his short blonde hair as the memory of his wife made his chest tighten. He sighed, what could he do, this young woman made him feel emotions that he thought had died the day he found Adora's grave but even threw the odd tightening of his chest that Lei induced when she smiled at him he could still feel the pain from the loss of his wife.

He was jerked from his reverie by the sound of a throat being cleared, Cain turned around to find Glitch looking at him with one eyebrow raised,

"You know Cain, you may not be the world's greatest thinker but I thought even you could manage thinking and walking at the same time." Glitch waited for the sarcastic response that was normal but none came, instead the Tin Man mumbled something about horses and hurried off in the wrong direction. Glitch watched him go before heading in the direction of DG's room to tell her about this interesting deterioration of Cain's mental abilities.

Lei was standing in front of her wardrobe with her sisters inspecting the collection of so-called "everyday dresses". They were not nice, whilst all of the Princesses ball gowns were made by the court tailor and were almost always designed by one of the royal trio these dresses were not. They were not bad as dresses went but they were all a little old fashioned- and most of them itched. Lei sighed as she pulled out yet another blue number only to find that it was in no way 'swishy',

"I really wish you would tell us why it is so important that you find the right blue dress to wear this afternoon, it's not anything important, just a meeting with mother's council." Azkadellia said from Lei's right.

"Oh, no reason, I just really felt like wearing this one dress. That's all." Lei sighed again and through the dress onto the ever growing pile on her bedroom floor. DG looked at her older sister with an expression of complete disbelief; Lei had never shown any interest in wearing any of these gowns before. It made her slightly suspicious of her big sister, a feeling she did not like; there was definitely something that Leilani wasn't telling them.

"If you really want to wear it why don't describe it to us and we can help you look." She tried, looking at Azkadellia for encouragement. The eldest Gale sister nodded and made a small noise in assent. Lei gave another non-committal shrug and continued with the disembowelment of her wardrobe.

There was a knock on the door that caused all of the princesses to turn,

"Come in." Called Lei, hoping against hope that it wasn't Cain coming to check on her, she really did not want the Tin Man to find her desperately searching for the dress that he had told her to wear. Her plan of surprising him with just the right outfit would only work if she turned up in it; the allusion would be completely spoiled if he knew just how long it was taking her to find the right one. Her anxieties were quelled however when Glitch entered the room, he opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw the contents of the closet scattered on the floor,

"What happened in here? You're not throwing those out are you? Your mother will be devastated, besides you always looked nice in that colour. Although you look better in purple it really brings out your eyes." DG grinned, it was so like there friend to go off at a tangent- not that he was wrong Lei had always looked good in purple she had their mother's gorgeous eyes- but he had probably come with something important to tell them. Azkadellia was the first to answer Glitch's questions,

"No Glitch, Lei was looking for a specific dress and these apparently are not that dress. We were trying to help her but she won't tell us what it looks like." Lei gave another massive sigh and collapsed face first onto her bed,

"I would tell you but I don't know! All I know is that it's blue and swishy!" Lei mumbled from her strike position on the bed. Glitch looked at her,

"If you don't know what it looks like then why do you want to wear it?" He asked sceptically. The response he got sounded more like 'mumble mumble mumble' than an actual answer.

"Sorry," Glitch said moving closer to the bed, "didn't quite catch that." Leilani rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling as she spoke,

"I said, because Cain suggested it." Her three companions stared at her for a long moment until she sat up and gave them all a defiant look, her cheeks glowing a rich, rosy pink. A sudden look of surprise crossed Glitch's face.

"Was it you who was talking to him about ten minutes ago?" Leilani nodded, "What did you _say_ to him, he was standing there like you had taken your top off!" Glitch exclaimed.

"I didn't do THAT!" Lei cried her cheeks turning an even deeper shade of cherry red, "I didn't do anything, I just said goodbye and told him I was going to come here and find the dress." Azkadellia and DG exchanged glances,

"Well now," Azkadellia said, breaking the slightly awkward silence as every puzzled over the conundrum that was commonly known as Wyatt Cain, "let's get you into that swishy dress before we are late for the meeting."

**I hope you enjoyed it, please review!**

**Igor xx**


	3. Exeunt

**I'm back after two gruelling weeks of sixth form (without a weekend might I add, curse you biology field trip!) and I have another chapter for you! One again I don't own Tin Man, if I did Cain would be mine, MINE, you hear me MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough splutter* haha?**

Cain looked at the doors to the council room as they opened to admit the three princesses, Leilani entering last. She looked like she was seriously regretting taking Cain up on his deal as she fidgeted with the neckline of the dress. It didn't matter though, she still looked stunning in the gown which was fitted to the waist and flowed down to the floor where it 'swished' around her feet.

As the Queen and Ahamo, her consort, entered everyone made their way to their seats. Cain remained by one of the rooms large green marble pillars choosing to remain in the position of a guard rather than a member of the Council.

People began to talk and soon Cain had glazed over not really listening to the back and forth going on at the table. All he was thinking about was the ride that he and Lei would be taking that afternoon, and when he glanced over at her he guessed that she was thinking of a similar thing. Her violet eyes were focusing on the clouds out of the high windows and she had a slight frown on her face. She really did look like a china doll, so fragile and delicate that she would break if he so much as touched her.

Suddenly they were both jerked back to reality as Azkadellia elbowed her sister in the ribs,

"What?" Lei jumped and returned her gaze to the men around the table,

"We were just about to discuss the matter for which you had been summoned to this meeting, Highness." A little man, who looked like a frog, boomed. Lei turned her sparkling eyes on him and smiled,

"Oh, please, don't let me hold up proceedings. I was simply mulling over some of the points that have been made." Cain saw Ahamo and DG trying to hide smiles at this downright lie on the part of the middle princess. They both knew that what she had said was about as true as a munchkin fortune cookie. The small frog-like man appeared to know this too but he sniffed and carried on regardless.

"As I was saying, harrumph," he cleared his throat before continuing. "We have summoned the three princesses here to discuss the subject of their marriage." Cain could see three young women sitting up and looking at each other, Azkadellia looked intrigued yet slightly weary as did DG. Lei however looked completely impassive and for a moment Cain wondered if she had zoned out again but her eyes were still flitting from person to person as if trying to read the thoughts of the councillors. "We in the council feel that it would be a good idea for their highnesses to be married to other persons of nobility as soon as possible." There was a murmur of agreement from the other councillors but the expressions on the faces of the royal family were mixed. The Queen's brow was wrinkled ever so slightly, Ahamo looked more than a little surprised, Azkadellia looked worried (but Cain thought that could be due to the look on her sister's faces), DG was gaping in a most un-lady like manner but Leilani still looked completely calm, her eyes contemplating the frog-man.

"Why?" Lei's voice range through the quiet of the hall like the chime of a bell; the council members looked at the middle princess as if she had just bellowed the most horrible swear word. The frog-man spluttered,

"It is a tradition that princesses of the O Z choose a groom by their twentieth birthday and as you are all over twenty annuals old the council feels that it would be... prudent for you to marry. We did not suggest it before for obvious reasons..." Cain watched Lei as she continued to look at the amphibious man, her expression calm and unreadable; she seemed to barely register the answer to her question. Her response seemed to rattle the men even more than a frontal assault. The whole of the council looked at one and other before turning to the Queen who was watching the proceedings with the same slight frown.

"Your Majesty," The advisor implored Lavender Eyes, "it is tradition." She sighed and looked from her husband to her daughters to the advisors collected around the table with an air of exasperation. Cain had been amused to notice some months ago that the Queen's emotions all seemed to become slight when she was surrounded by nobles or advisors. She was silent for a moment appearing to concentrate on something in the middle distance as she thought. She held up a hand as one of the advisors went to speak, silencing him without even a look. Finally the Queen was ready to speak; she turned her gaze on Lei, her lavender eyes meeting Lei's.

"Times are different from when last that tradition was called upon and many things have changed, however I do feel that despite the amazing progress that has been made in this nation since our princesses returned it would be good for the people to see their future rulers married." The council appeared to be smugly pleased by this announcement, the men sat there with self-righteous looks on their over fed faces; like one giant, fluffy cat that had just been handed a large plate of cream. Cain noticed the expression on the face of Frog-man and had to restrain himself from striding over there and hitting him.

"Right," Lei's eyes were focused on her mother and whilst her face still appeared as a mask Cain could see odd emotions flickering just below the surface. Lavender Eyes appeared to notice them to for her next comment was addressed solely to her second daughter,

"Leilani, darling, we don't expect you to marry anyone you don't like and we will think carefully about how to go about this so that everyone is happy." Lei did not react to her mother's remark; she continued to sit at rigid attention before quietly repeating,

"Right" Lei stood and turned to leave, as she walked calmly from the room Cain saw the expressions of shock and surprise on every face in the room. Lei had never been so cool or collected in all her time at the palace, she was known for her sudden out bursts and loud arguments with her mother's advisors; Cain could hear the whispers starting around the room like little hissing fires as the door swung shut behind him. He knew that everyone would be hurriedly theorising about what had happened to cause such a sudden change in Lei and, to be honest he couldn't help wondering himself.

As he slipped through the doors and closed them quietly behind him he could hear the click of heals on the marble floor. He looked down the corridor and saw the retreating figure of Lei disappearing around the corner in a swirl of deep blue fabric. He began to jog to catch her; she turned at the sound of his footsteps. There was no expression on her face as she looked at him, her countenance was rigid, her posture straight; nothing showed from behind her eyes. He slowed and stopped in front of her; there were no words to describe how odd it was to see her standing there with her features so completely blank. He had become so accustomed to the warm smile that lit her face when she saw him that this cold exterior was a shock.

"Are you alright?" Cain asked tentatively. Lei didn't show any hint of an emotion as he looked at her.

"I'm fine." She replied, even her tone was flat and unreadable. A sudden urge to grab to young woman and shake her took hold of the ex-Tin Man, but he restrained himself. Vigorously shaking ones employer was not the 'done' thing. So he stood there and watched as Lei looked at the floor, then the walls and finally out of the window. There was a heavy silence as the two of them stood there.

He wanted to tell her it would all be ok and that he would shoot all those stupid gits in the council. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, Lei looked at him her face slowly beginning to show some emotions each of which changed too quickly for Cain to keep up. Suddenly Lei ran at him throwing herself into his arms in the empty corridor.

Her face pressed into his neck and her fists balled up in the front of his shirt. Cain stood there for a moment his hand lightly resting on her back as he tried to take in what had just happened. He felt his heart pound and hoped like hell that Lei couldn't feel it; tentatively he wrapped his arm tighter around her as she cried and bent his head slightly, murmuring what he hoped were comforting sounds into her ear.

After a few moments Lei pulled back a little as the torrent of tears eased off. She looked up at him, eyes still sparkling,

"Thank you."

"What for?" Cain replied and, much to his embarrassment, he felt himself blushing. Lei looked down and wiped her eyes.

"Nothing" there was a silence for a moment; slowly Lei stepped back and let go of Cain's shirt. He felt a strange sensation as she stepped away, he wanted to pull her back to him, but he couldn't. She would think that was odd, Cain quickly squashed some of the thoughts floating around in his head and focused on the Princess; she was a few steps away now wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her dress. Cain fished a crumpled handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her,

"Thanks, so," she began breaking the silence, "are we still on for this afternoon? I could really use a bit of down time." She looked at him with an odd expression in her eyes. Cain nodded whilst forcing his face to stay impassive and not gawp at her as she wiped her eyes again. He cleared his throat and willed the words to come out of his mouth in a coherent sentence,

"Sure thing, Princess" Cain kicked himself as he watched her tense up and close her eyes. When she opened them again she had an odd, unreadable expression on her face,

"I'll meet you at the stables in twenty minutes." For the second time that day Cain was left standing there as the middle Princess of the OZ walked away.

**Ok, so thanks for reading again and bearing with me whilst I get this story off the ground. Special thanks to Bronte who left me my first review EVER! You have no idea how much of an idiot I looked sitting at a computer in the sixth form area of the library at school grinning like the Cheshire Cat because I had just got the email about it.**

**Anyway, lots of love to anyone who reviews, I'm not picky about what you put and any criticisms you have or ideas for what you would like to see in the future will be welcome! Also up until this point I had all the chapters previously written but now I have to co-ordinate writing and school work so sorry if I leave you hanging; feel free to poke me with sharp things if I do!**

**Thanks, Igor xx**


	4. Oh Screw It

**I have to apologise this chapter took forever and it's not as good as I'd like it to be! Lei was having a sulk because I've been a bit sleep deprived and ignoring her – sixth form can be quite hectic when it wants to be and I've not had much time to write. I've also been reading a lot of Harry potter fanfic recently which means my head is full of ideas for that which is not conducive to a good Tin Man-y atmosphere!**

**Anyway enough excuses, just thought you like to know that I still don't own Tin Man, just in case anyone was wondering about that!  
>*This wasn't really edited or even proof read when I loaded it but I've gone over it now. There might still be some mistakes so feel free to tell me if there are!*<strong>

Half an hour later Cain was contemplating going up to the palace to look for the princess. It had been ten minutes since she was due to arrive at the stables to go on the ride with him and she hadn't arrived yet. He had been pacing across the stable yard for the past five minutes in front of the two fully tacked horses.

He was just about to go back up to look for Leilani when he spotted her running down the path towards the stables. She entered the yard and slowed her pace panting out an apology through her heavy breathing. Cain walked over to her and looked her up and down, there didn't appear to be anything wrong other than her eyes, they were still red rimmed and puffy. Cain frowned at the young woman; it had been half an hour since she left him in the corridor outside the council room, her eyes should have stopped being red by now.

"Are you alright, Princess?" He asked her. She tensed again as her used her title before striding over to her horse and tightening the girth. It was a moment before she answered the ex-Tin Man,

"I'm fine. Sorry I was late I had some trouble finding my riding boots." Cain's frown deepened, he remembered seeing her riding boots on his way out of her room that morning and it wasn't like Lei to lie to him. He decided to leave it, maybe going on a ride would calm the princess down enough for her to sort herself out and tell him what was really going on; surely having to have an arranged marriage couldn't be the only reason for all these tears.

Moments later they were off and Lei felt herself relax. She had been getting more and more tense since her mother had dropped the bombshell about the arranged marriage this morning, then there had been her melt down with Cain and the way he had been there holding her.

Leilani knew that Cain didn't love her but why couldn't he see that when he comforted her like that it was torture! All she had been able to think whilst he held her was that she wanted to be his, just his. She had been willing him to tell her that she wouldn't have to marry a lord or a duke, to tell her that he loved her and he wouldn't let them marry her off. But he hadn't. After Lei left him in the corridor she had managed to hold the tears in until she reached her room where they had finally overwhelmed her.

She ran a hand over her face as her horse walked down the path towards the forest surrounding Finaqua. She didn't want anyone to know just how much the events of the last few hours had affected her. Lei knew that her mother would try to baby her, making a fuss and not letting her do anything that might cause her anymore stress for weeks (this, Lei knew, would include anything that might be fun), the council would act like she was weak.

She contemplated telling her sisters but disregarded this idea quickly. As much as her sisters would try to help Azdkadellia already worried too much about almost everything and DG was going through an even tougher time that Lei was, what with still having to adjust to her home and learning about her forgotten past. Glitch was good to talk to now that he had his marbles back; he now seemed to be the best parts of friendly, loveable Glitch and intelligent, down to earth Ambrose meaning that he was back to being the Queen's right hand man. Unfortunately at the moment he was still undergoing monthly treatment to make sure his brain was functioning properly; he had agreed with the Queen that he would stay up in Central City after his check up and meet the family when they came back to the city for the start of the social season, so talking to him at the moment wasn't possible.

The last two people Lei would have spoken to about her problems were Ahamo and Cain himself. Lei sighed, the latter was out for the obvious reason that he was part of the problem and she didn't think Ahamo would take to the idea of his little girl marrying a man just under twice her age.

A sudden thought flitted into her mind, she could talk to Jeb; a moment later the idea was squashed, Jeb would not like his honorary sister loving his recently regained father. If only she still had Adora to talk to, she had been like a mother to Lei; but no, if Adora was still around either Lei wouldn't have to worry about anything other than the arranged marriage or she wouldn't be able to tell her because Lei would be in love with Adora's _husband_! She let out a frustrated sigh and decided to try to forget about the problem for a while, it would still be sitting in the 'you are screwed' box when she got home. For now she would enjoy the countryside and try not to jump her bodyguard!

**Like I said it's not as good as I'd like it to be and it's a bit short but I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter! I think my one-chapter-a-week idea has pretty much gone out the window so you might have to wait a while for the next chapter but now that I've given Lei a good talking to she should give me some ideas soon.**

**As always I hope you enjoyed, much thanks to everyone who has already reviewed and if you haven't please do. I would love to know what you think, especially if you had an idea about how I can improve it. Constructive criticism is always welcome!**

**By the way for anyone who doesn't ride the girth is the strap that attaches to the saddle and goes behind the horse's front legs to hold the saddle on its back. You have to tighten it to stop you falling off sideways as you ride (for those who do know what it is please don't think I'm trying to patronise anyone I honestly do know some people who don't know what it does!)**

**Much Love,  
>Igor xx<strong>


	5. Enigma

**Small amount of pre-amble, I just wanted to apologise for not writing for ages. I promised this chapter to Scarlet Garter over a month ago but life, work and writer's block have conspired against me. I also feel like this chapter is ridiculously short and not to my normal standards but I needed to post something even if it was this, the whole 497 pointless words of it. I don't own Tin Man no matter how much I wish I did!**

Cain was beginning to get quite worried; it had been a week since the council had decided that the princesses should be married and since the Leilani had been in a state of absolute chaos. She was going from one emotion to the next so fast that Cain could have sworn he was developing whiplash, not only that but she also seemed to be avoiding him. The worst part of it was that he was still ignorant of the cause of Lei's unpredictable mood swings; he had tried asking around but the people he asked either didn't know why she would be acting this way or refused to tell him. Of course he knew that all three of the Princesses were upset about the prospect of being forced to marry but Lei seemed to be taking it worse than the others. Azkadellia seemed particularly resigned to the fact and so it had been her that Cain decided to ask about the middle princess' erratic behaviour.

It was late in the afternoon when Cain finally approached Az, she had been reading in the gardens but looked up as he neared her. She smiled at him whilst he sat beside her on the stone bench and made small talk; eventually Cain broached the subject of Lei,

"I don't suppose you know why Leilani is acting so strangely at the moment do you Princess?" Az gave him a slightly incredulous look and he quickly amended his question, "I mean, you don't know if there are any other reasons, besides the wedding thing…" He trailed of as Azkadellia gave him a calculating look.

"Lei and DG weren't raised to be princesses they were both brought up to believe that people should marry for love. Even though Lei knew she was a Princess I don't think she ever really thought about much besides getting all of us back together and safe, she is a very loving person and the thought that she will have to give up the person she loves without him even realising is almost too much for her. I think the strange behaviour around you and the rest of our family may be her way of dealing with it without letting the council know how much this decision has affected her." Azkadellia looked out at the sky as the first sun began to dip down below the horizon. She was so calm but her serenity didn't do anything to quell Cain's nerves.

"But why would she be avoiding me?" He asked, voicing the question that had been playing on him mind for some time now. Azkadellia looked at him sharply,

"I didn't know she was but if you don't know why I'm not going to tell you." Rising she bid goodnight to the ex-Tin Man and left flowed at a discreet distance by her body guard. Cain sat and stared out at the suns set before rising and following Azkadellia's path back towards the palace where dinner was waiting.

**So sorry for all the filler you are getting at the moment but I am having writing issues. I may come back and edit this when my muse stops giving me the cold shoulder. Any encouragement or ideas are appreciated, cough*reviews*cough.**

**Igor xx**


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